Vance says U.S. and Iran close but “not there yet” on initial deal to reopen Strait of Hormuz

Lebanon’s culture minister told the French news agency AFP Friday that Israeli strikes on the country’s south were putting heritage sites in “serious danger,” adding that a castle had been directly hit.

A ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon came into effect on April 17, but it never halted fighting between Israel and the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah, which has long been based in Lebanon. Hezbollah, designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and Israel, was not party to the negotiations and quickly rejected the truce.  

Both Israel and Hezbollah have accused each other of violating the ceasefire almost daily, and use those accusations to justify their ongoing attacks.

“Bombings fell very close to the ruins of Tyre,” a UNESCO World Heritage site, Culture Minister Ghassan Salame said Friday. 

The medieval Beaufort castle overlooking Nabatieh was “directly hit … we know that several bombs fell on this fortress,” he added. “The intensification of the battles means that these sites are in serious danger.”

In recent days, Israel has issued repeated evacuation warnings, widening what it considers an active combat zone to a vast swath of southern Lebanon and telling tens of thousands of residents to flee for their safety.

Early Thursday, Israel’s military warned it would target a building in Tyre which it showed on an accompanying map as located very close to the city’s archaeological area. Around two hours after the warning, AFP video showed a fireball followed by smoke as a strike hit the district.